I do have plenty of c 41 films that are rather cheap (1usd a roll or less) if you get them outdated.
perhaps I should just run some film to season the bleach and see what happens.

I was taught b&w and some rudimentary color at an excellent local community college and my mentor up there drilled in process control so I'm always paranoid with not going by the book. I specifically departed from kits with blix due to the excellent advice I've gained here.

I'd love to hear any other thoughts on how I should proceed from some of you with experience.

I should mention that I'm running ss tanks and reels in a hand inversion setup.